Grading the Canucks 2022 trade deadline

Travis Hamonic to Ottawa Senators for 2022 third-round pick: A+

Let’s start with the first of two trades from Sunday. I could even add another plus or two because this was a home run by the Canucks.

It feels like Travis Hamonic has been out of the lineup more often than not this season. When he has played, there have been some glaring defensive mistakes. He was also taking up three million dollars in cap space.

Getting a third-round pick  for Hamonic is a steal especially since they did not retain any of his salary. It is an odd move for the Ottawa Senators considering they are still in a rebuild. For the Canucks, they hit the jackpot with this move.

To make things even better the pick that Vancouver got in exchange for Hamonic originally belonged to them. It was traded away to the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2020 offseason in exchange for Nate Schmidt. The Golden Knights traded the pick with Nick Holden for Evgenii Dadonov last summer and now the Canucks have it again. Welcome home third-round pick!

2022 third-round pick to Toronto Maple Leafs for Travis Dermott: B

The Canucks traded one Travis to Ontario and brought in another Travis from Ontario. This Travis was from the Toronto Maple Leafs and it was Travis Dermott.

Going back to Toronto was a third-round pick in 2022. This pick was originally from the Winnipeg Jets and it was acquired for Schmidt last summer.

Dermott is a versatile defenceman who can play both sides despite being left-handed. He comes at a 1.5 million dollar cap hit which is half of Hamonic’s cap hit.

Dermott is much better than Hamonic as well. He is good in his own zone, especially at stopping the offensive entries. Dermott is also good at passing and moving the puck up the ice. One flaw of Dermott is that he can be prone to turnovers in his own zone from time to time.

Dermott was second on the Leafs in Corsi for with 54.83% at five-on-five per NaturalStatTrick. He also gave up the second least goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five with 2.39 and gave up the least shots against per 60 at five-on-five with 28.38. Not bad.

Some people on Canucks Twitter were not happy about giving up a draft pick, which is understandable. However, the Canucks get a good defenceman for the right side at a lower cap hit after shedding Hamonic’s salary.

Let’s see what Dermott can do.

Tyler Motte to New York Rangers for 2023 fourth-round pick: C

The only trade from deadline day saw the Canucks move out a player that had to be traded.

Tyler Motte was traded to the New York Rangers for a fourth-round pick in 2023 just minutes before noon on Monday. The return does seem underwhelming considering that other bottom-six players like Johan Larsson and Nick Deslauriers have gone for higher picks. But it was better than nothing for Motte. Plus, Motte’s career-high is 16 points so it’s not like he was going to go for a lot anyway.

Motte is due for a big raise this summer and it is better for the Canucks to get something back instead of overpaying him or letting him walk for nothing.

The reason I’m giving this trade a C is that I expected more of a return but at least they got a draft pick. It is what it is.

Trade deadline grade: B

So only three trades before the deadline for the Canucks. The moves weren’t mind-blowing by any means.

The Canucks did get draft picks, freed up some cap space and a 25-year-old left-handed defenceman who can play both sides. It’s not great ,but it is a good start for the new management group.

“Our vision and our goal is more than just the next couple of weeks,” said Allvin to the media after the deadline passed. “We want to create some cap space. We want to get younger.”

This year’s trade deadline for the Canucks is hopefully a small step towards turning the ship from the playoff bubble sea to the contending sea. Of course, they still have a long way to go. If you are disappointed the Canucks didn’t make big moves on before noon on Monday, wait until the offseason because that’s where the real fun begins.